I know my pic game is what it is.
Last week I drove Smif-N-Wessun through a blizzard. There was ice falling off buildings and it looked like a frozen Montreal was willing to attack tourists and locals alike. Yesterday I was in shorts and a t-shirt grateful I had a bunch of pickle branded tank tops on the way.
A whole bunch of places compete for weird weather and normally I’d be in on the joke. Last couple of years it’s clear climate change is making changes. We may not see the winters I grew up with for a long time.
The Ice Storm of 23 was a bit of a joke compared to 98. I’m glad it’s over, if it was like 98, in April it’d be super eerie. What’s really great is now I can cycle again with sun on my skin.
Escaping the cave
A lot of the work I get up to leaves me in front of a computer, reading and writing. Sometimes I get to stand and run back and forth when recording music, but I do that way less than I should. The whole return on investment thing has me questioning so much on where to prioritize lately.
Like I spent 9 hours editing the audio of the next PRSPCTVS episode. I can pay someone like Merker Miyagi to do it, or I can go on YouTube, follow a tutorial, and try it out. After about 3 hours I had a basic effects template and was ready to come through the audio.
It was 2 hours and 45 minutes, which means, that is the minimum length to go through it. Since it’s audio, I don’t want to speed it up, I want to hear it as intended as we go through it. I’m not good at any of this yet.
After like 4 hours of work, I needed to escape. The sun was still shining so I hit my bicycle and I was ready to take care of my chores. K-Rym bought a pickle T-Shirt like 4 months ago and I needed to deliver it to him, next up I thought I had to pay a ticket in person.
Riding the cycle with the sun on my skin was a riveting experience. I waited since last autumn to have a good ride with shorts on.
Provincial and Municipal tickets are not the same
I pulled up the courthouse thing in Lasalle. It was on the third floor of some building in a strip mall. Like only this little part had several floors, then it was a long Lasalle strip mall. Lasalle got some, I want to be the burbs so bad energy, with its mall configurations.
What’s incredible is there’s a Mr. Puffs right next door. So, you can console your soul with donut hole like pastries after giving the city your money.
You may be wondering why I didn’t just pay it online. Well, I tried, and it didn’t work so I figured I had to go in person. The lady at the counter took one look at the infraction papers and was like, wrong government.
Turns out when you get a ticket on the train, for forgetting to hit the OPUS card on the card reader (even though I had tickets), it’s Quebec that you pay, not Montreal.
She told me I could pay it online and I stood awkwardly in the stairs doing just that. I contributed my sad $275 towards the socialism of Quebec. That’s the first ticket I got in like a decade, I paid it humbly. Some of y’all get a wild amount of tickets and contribute way more, thank you.
Gabi. had a show
I didn’t go out as much this week. The power outage put me even more behind on my task list, which made me realize I had to stay home and grind. Perhaps I should have taken that lesson sooner. Staying home, Chris and I made a song Tuesday night after raiding Bonnie’s vodka.
Wednesday night was about learning effects. Don’t you worry, a super basic Holden’s guide to bad podcast editing is coming the next time I don’t know what to write about. I also had to make these promo videos for the NARS event.
I got a lot of little chores I was putting off done and that was nice. Then I saw Gabi. had a show and I asked him about it. I like Gabi. as we go way back to my first ever concert performance, but in the future dear readers, we got to have some press pass conversations for real.
I WILL pull up and give you a piece of written word about your performance. I don’t see a whole lot of people doing that in Montreal these days, in English.
I digress, I like Gabi. so I was down to pay to support him. I didn’t see a flyer, I didn’t know who else was on it. Also, the show was early so it was not going to be a 1 AM kind of night. Given the weather I knew I had to take my second cycle ride of the day.
L’Hemisphere Gauche is special to me
The event was at L’Hemisphere Gauche. I hadn’t been here since February 2020. I know that was the date because I pulled up to see the venue as I was organizing my first show, a charity event for Make-A-Wish.
It was scheduled to happen March 20th, 2020 and on March 15th, Legault deaded the Quebec live scene. Walking back into it reminded me of how dope it is. The ambiance is proper, it’s bigger than Blue Dog and has cheaper drinks.
The stage is a real stage, and the sound guy is on point. On the list of venues, this one is a really good contender. I feel I’d struggle to fill a Turbo Haus but this L’Hemisphere Gauche size and feel, I could foster something at.
It’s about a 6-minute walk from Beaubien at what Google knows my walking speed to be. What really matters is that my double rum and coke was 11$ before tip. This is some near pre-covid pricing. People finna get turnt at L’Hemisphere Gauche if we do shows there.
The dude looked at Funk Lo like he was crazy when Funk wanted a bottle. It’s that kind of a vibe.
A room where I mostly didn’t know people
I got there and realized I did not know many people in the room. Thinking back to my interview with Taigenz, this felt appropriate. I was super paranoid too because I forgot my keys at home.
That means I had to pretend my bike was locked. I was able to find a spot right in front of the venue and I swear I checked on my bike 25 times. People must have thought I was on one for my random checking of the front with no context.
I saw Gabi., Budz and a few others up the street away from the main crowd. I had determined the folk I was currently standing near were not the vibe at the time. Rather, I was not interested in eavesdropping on their conversation further and walked up the street.
As expected, there is a photographer present taking pics of Anu Budz and Gabi. These boys are on point and understand the power of image and presentation. The longer I go at this game the more I realize that team, means getting that kind of stuff popping in your life.
I think I knew about 6 people there when I arrived and thankfully, I was pickled out. I’m pretty shy at these events. I’ve spent years getting over it, but the pickle merch is an ice breaker. People just feel compelled to compliment it and ask where I got it.
It’s fire to know I’m a style dude for young people. Me… LOL.
The passion of Donato
This part has nothing to do with his performance. Donato was the opening act and was going IN on the come inside the show is about to start vibes. I respect the hustle, but no one believed the 5-minute timeframe he presented.
He came back multiple times and really put the work in. I’m not writing this to goof on him, you actually need someone to go do this at a show to avoid having the crowd outside the whole time. The crowd are more like sheep than you would think, they need to be herded.
I think he came out 4 times before I felt it was getting closer to the show starting. Those of us that have been in this for a while can smell when it’s time to go inside. We are watching things like spliffs versus cigarettes, outside crowd size and, if we can see in the venue, what’s happening inside.
Inevitably Donato’s efforts paid off, and trust it was his efforts that got everyone inside. Then there was a giant lineup at the bar. Like 20 people were trying to order at once from two bartenders.
Donato wanted everyone in the crowd at the front, unfortunately you can’t beat a drink line. So, half the crowd was waiting for the show to start, and the other half was ordering drinks.
All I can say is you punish those in the crowd with those delays.
Donato did kill his set
I mean the last part constructively. If you are a show opener, don’t delay the show for the crowd to come. Even if you are the headliner.
The audience is paying to see you, they are the ones who get to do what they want. The second you start playing your music, all your people are going to come to the front. Half the people waiting on a drink would have skipped it.
I often wait for the music to start before I go in at shows. That being said, Donato brought an incredible performance. The crowd was fully engaged and were singing along to his music.
His stage presence is energetic, and he knows exactly when to turn up and to cool off. His music brings an R&B/Hip Hop/Pop feel, and he delivers it well. I can’t say it’s music I’d throw on dolo, but I would put it on to impress a girl.
Bring your lady to a Donato show. This dude makes the kind of music you can get all grindy with her but then still turn up.
His voice is nice, and he lived up to the promise he made when he introduced himself to me. I like the way he had this jump move that he brought back into each song. I never considered choreographing a signature move into my music and designing joints around those moments before. Good set.
Gabi. also killed his set
I found out Gabi. has a sister who owns a whole business and is profitable enough to have employees. He also has a brother named Frankie and I vividly remember two separate “Frankie” chants.
Gabi. fans were everywhere, and you could see on the ticket sale counter at the door, a good 18 people paid for him at the last count I saw. At least 4 people in the crowd has his merch on.
Yo the people knew the words to Gabi.’s songs. This wasn’t some I’m here to support my homie things. These were people that listen enough to know the words to the songs and sing along.
Gabi’s performance was about love. This was not him trying to prove anything. He was in front of his fans and he and his people had a great time celebrating his music together.
It was beautiful to witness. People in the scene claim there’s no love but also don’t go to shows like this where it exists.
Granted Gabi. hooks are stupid easy to remember, but you can tell the people feel it. Gabi. is on some twisted love broken hearted I just want to be happy vibes. Super relatable to be honest.
Great performance, I know most of us can’t have the crowd hold us down like Gabi. can.
Sorry I missed the other performance
Unfortunately for those I miss, unless I’m given a press pass to cover the event, or someone is paying me to cover their set, I play the night by ear. My coverage is currently based on a passion and love for this kind of blog writing.
I got invited to an alleyway beer during the middle set. Faced with the choice of a free beer and some good chats or another act, I chose the beer.
These fine people, in Gabi.’s camp, made an effort to talk with me and network. Donato made sure to greet me and thank me for coming to the show. Maybe I had bad energy to them, but I the other artist did not introduce herself to me.
I will do my best to cover all the stuff I see as I also aim to have a great night. If I am putting up my own bread to have fun, then that is going to be my focus.
All that to say live show coverage is for sale. Blog and video package. Holla.
3 more shows this weekend
I need to wrap up this first draft. I have to jump on a call with Littyyy Bro Flacko in 10 minutes and get ready to stream this week’s Our PRSPCTVS episode. Later on today is another concert.
The one I wanted to go to is apparently sold out so I will end up at the Maniks event. Then Saturday is a limo bus to Tremblant to party with Blaster. Then Sunday is the next show who the main event is whatever, but I will support the homies.
Between all that I need to write blogs, do the freelance task I have waiting and get on my music game. High key I’m starting to feel alive again. The sun is wonderful and it’s great to have things to keep me grounded.
I can only imagine how lost I’d be without this culture and the blessings it has given me.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone